Door-check.



J. E. GIBBS.

DOOR CHECK.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.14,1914.

Patented July 21, 1914.

s E s s E N W W ATTO RNEY LEN JAMES EDWIN GIBBS, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO,ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 WILLIAM A. BYE-ELY, OF BR-IDGEWATER, VIRGINIA.

DOOR-CHECK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1914:.

Application filed January 14, 1914. Serial No. 812,066.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. G1BBs,-a citizen of the 'United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Door-Check, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has reference to improvements in door checks, and itsobject is to provide a door check which besides being of cheap buteilicicnt construction, is adapted for use in positions where doorchecks as heretofore constructed could not be used.

In accordance with the present invention the door check is constructedto be applied to a door frame having rabbets for doors on opposite facesof the frame and the door check is particularly adapted for use inconnection with screen doors when applied to such a door frame on theside opposite from a storm door. In door frames as customarily made thespace between the rabbets is usually not more than about two andone-half inches in breadth and consequently a door check cannot have itsextreme length exceed about two and one-half inches, and for reasonswhich will hereinafter appear its extreme length must be materially lessthan two and one-half inches.

lVith door checks as heretofore constructed, and particularly the typeknown as pneumatic checks, it has been deemed necessary to make thepneumatic chamber of considerable length, and usually several times thediameter of the chamber. In the present invention the length beinglimited the body of the pneumatic chamber is increased in diameter inorder that the relatively large volume of air necessary is present andthe check is made to become more quickly effective than heretofore inorder to arrest the closing movement of the door, which closing movementis usually caused by the action of a spring, and is sometimesaccelerated by wind currents.

Because of the very short length of travel of the movable part of theimproved door check, it is placed close to the hinged side of the door,and is so situated that its longitudinal axis is at an angle to the doorframe to receive the first impact of the door in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the plane of the door, so that themovable member of the check will yield easily without binding andquickly compress the confined air within the pneumatic chamber, andwhile the door is checked quickly this is accomplished without jar orundue strain because of the large volume and small depth of trapped air.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in connection with. theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with thefurther under standing that while the drawings show a practical form ofthe invention, the latter is not confined to any strict conformity withthe showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long assuch changes and modifications mark no material departure from thesalient features of the invention.

In the drawings-Figure l is a perspective view of the upper part of adoor frame and doors mounted thereon, showing the pneumatic check inposition. Fig. 2 is a bottom lan view of the door check in the installeposition. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2 and showing thecheck in the partly compressed position. Fig. 4 is a section on the line4-4 of Fig. 3 with distant parts omitted. Fig. 5 is a section of thecheck on the line 55 of Fig. 3, the supporting bracket for the barrel ofthe check being omitted.

Referring to the drawings there shown a cylinder 1 constituting thebarrel of the check, and this cylinder is mounted upon a. bracket 2shaped to receive the barrel 1 which may be soldered or otherwisesecured to the bracket and the latter is made substantially rectangularin outline having elongated foot portions 3 along opposite sides formingflanges for the attachment of the door cheek to the top member 4 of adoor frame on the upper inner facing board thereof in the space betweenthe door receiving rabbets, this portion of the facing board beingindicated at 5. The bracket 3 is longer along the longitudinal centerline than at the sides and at one end it tapers away from the centertoward the edges, as indicated at 6, and this taper is at an angle 'isshown at 7 in the drawings,

and of the barrel 1 carried while another door 9 is to the longitudinalcenter line of the bracket thereby corre- 'Sl'KlIldlllg to the angle atwhich the check is to be placed upon the door frame with respect to thelength of the to member 4. thus indicating to the person installing thedevice the proper position of installation,

the only other precaution that the installer has to take being that thecheck should be placed at approximately acertain distance from thehinges of the door, say, in the neighborhood of six inches, and such adoor being normally constrained toward the closed position by a spring 8or in any suitable manner, indicated in Fig. 1

' as fast to the same door frame as the door 7,

; ring 13 \vhei'rseatcd in the groove 12 is such as to encroach a shortdistance upon the bore of the barrel 1.

v Adapted to the barrel 1 is a piston or plunger 14 terminating at oneend in a laterally expanded head 15 of a diameter to "snugly yet freelyfit the barrel, so that the plunger'may readily move lengthwise of thebarrel, the main body of the plunger beingot .adiameter to move easilythrough the ring 13 when seated in the groove 12.. The outer end of theplunger carries a buffer block 16 designed to be enga ed by the door 7,for which reason the bu er block may be made of some yieldable materialsuch as rubber or any other substance which will prevent undue marringof the door 7.

That end of the piston block 14 occupied by the head 15 is enteredaxially by a screw 17 holding a disk 18 in position to confine a packingcup 1%) against the face of the head 15 with the margins of the cup flatagainst the inner wall of the barrel 1. Between the screw 17 and theouter margins of the disk 18 the latter is formed on the face remotefrom the piston with an annular groove 20 in which is seated one end ofa spring 21, the other end of which bears against the inner wall of thehead 10. Near the head 10 the barrel 1 is provided with a boss 22through which there extends a threaded passage entering the barrel 1,and this passage is designed to receive the threaded end of a thumbscrew 23, the said screw having a suitable manipulating portion such asa milled head common to screws of this charaeter, while along one sideof the threaded shank oi. the screw there is a tapered cutaway .21forming an outlet for air rompresscd within the barrel, this being acommon form of throttled air escape passage in door cheeks.

The spring 21 is designed to force the pislton block let to the outerlimit of its travel,

this being determined by the engagement of the head 15 with the ring 12.This outward movement of the piston is not to any material extentimpeded, since the packing cup 19 readily collapses at the edgessuificicntly to allow a flow of air around it to the interior of thebarrel 1. The spring 21 need be but a comparatively light spring, sinceWhile it. may assist to some extent in checking the inward movement ofthe piston block 14, it is not designed to provide any very largeresistance to such movement. When the door 7 is brought into engagementwith the buffer 16, as on a closing movement of the door under theaction of the spring the resistance of the spring 21 offers no greatimpediment to the movement of'the piston toward the closed end of thebarrel .1, but it takes only a relatively short movement of the piston11 to put the air confined with in the barrel 1 under compressionsuiiicient to retard and even wholly stop the closing movement of thedoor 7. As it is not the purpose of the check to prevent closing of thedoor the vent controlled by the screw 23 .is provided, so that thecompressed air may slowly escape and the door 7 will ultimately beclosed by the action of the spring 8, the rapidity of such closingmovement depending upon the adjustment of the screw 23 and the eflectivesize of the vent controlled thereby.

. Since ordinarily the portion 5 of the rabbet, board underconsideration is only about two and one-half inches Wide. and in anyevent is relatively narrow in door openings where screen doors areprovided, the available space for the installation of the door check ismuch restricted, so that in order to make the cheek effective when itslength so necessarily restrict ed, the diameter of the barrel 1 islargely increased over the size customarily emploved, so that the barrel1 will be from about one and three-(platters to two or more inches indiameter, and, of course, the piston block 14- is of correspondingdiameter, except that the major portion of the block is reduced toconform to the restriction of the bore of the barrel 1 defined by theinner diameter of the stop ring 13 sprung into the groove 12. Thisprovides a sufliciently large volume barrel 1, when the piston 1 1 isprojected to the full extent designed, to compress to an effectiveresisting condition with but a relaof air within the tively very smalllongitudinal movement of the piston and consequently the door 7 isquickly checked to a very moderate speed of closing movement before itreaches the closed position, and even in the event of a strong windurging the door to the closed position the large diameter check causesthe entrapping of so large a body of air that the door is ell'cctivelychecked by the great resistance of the compressed air which cannotescape with sufiicient rapidity through the vent to release the pressureso that the door could slam.

Because of the short travel of the piston of the check the check isplaced relatively close to the hinge connection of the door with thedoor frame in order that the check may become active while the free endof the door is still a considerable distance from the closed position sothat it may retard the door through a longer are of movement than wouldhe the case if the check were placed nearer to the free edge of thedoor.

The pistcn or plunger 14 is readily made of a single block of wood orother material of large diameter throughout and which may be ot adiameter closely approaching that of the barrel from the head 15 to thefree end ot the piston, being reduced in diameter only by an amountequal to the on croachment of the ring 13 upon the bore of the barrel,thus providing a large bearing without the necessity of any head or supporting spider at such end of the barrel, so that while the circularextent of the bearing for the piston is large, the longitudinal extent:is small and frictional resistance to the movement of the piston intoand out of the barrel is reduced. to a minimum and may be easilyovercome by the projecting action of the spring 21.

While in some instances the diameter of the barrel may be equal to orclosely approximate the length of the barrel, the diameter of the barrelis always more than half the length thereof. While the length or thepiston. including the packing ring, is apprcximatcly that of the barrel,the diameter of the. piston is more than half its length. The groove 20is of a depth to substantially house the sprin -Q1 when the latter iscmm'iressed. so that the piston may approach very closely to the closedend of the barrel at which time the door 7 has become fully closed.

lVhilc the door check is intended primarily for use in connection with ascreen door it may be used in other connections, and. moreover. the doorcheck is readily r0- vcrsible, so that it may be changed as desired toengage either the screen door 7, or the main or storm door 9, for whenonce installed it may be removed, turned about and reinstalled in thereverse position, using the same fastening devices in each instance.

What is claimed is l. A pneumatic door check comprising a barrel ofsubstantially the same internal diameter throughout, and having one endopen and of the same diameter as the bore of the cylinder, a pistonadapted to the boreof the cylinder, and readily removable means in thecylinder at the open end there of and extending radially into thecylinder to reduce the effective bore thereof, the piston having anaxially elongated portion of a diameter and length to move along thebore reducing means in guiding contact therewith throughout the strokeof the piston.

2. A pneumatic door check comprising a barrel, and a piston blockadapted to the interior of the barrel and of a length approximating thatof the barrel, said barrel having a groove at the end through which thepiston block extends, and a retaining ring sprung into the groove toprevent escape of the piston block from the barrel.

3. A door check comprising a barrel closed at one end and at the otherend open to the full diameter of the bore of the barrel, a cylindricalpiston of a length substantially that of its stroke and having one endmovable into and out of the barrel through the open end thereof. thediameter of the piston being substantially the same as the length of itsstroke, and means at the open end of the barrel for preventing escape ofthe inner end of the piston therefrom.

4. A door check comprising a barrel closed at one end and at the otherend formed with a bead defining an internal groove, a split ring seatedin the groove and encroaching on the bore of the barrel, and a pistonblock having a head at one end approximating in diameter that of theinternal diameter of the barrel, and the remainder of the block beingreduced in diai'neter corresponding to the internal diameter of thesplit ring seated in the groove.

A door check having a barrel and piston lodged therein. with means fornormally projecting the piston to a limited extent from the barrel. anda supporting bracket for the barrel having one end inclined with respectto the longitudinal center line of the barrel and bracket to indicatethe angle of installation of the check structure with relation to thepart to which it is to be applied.

(i. A door check adapted to the space between the rabbets on oppositesides of a tacing board of a door frame, said check having a supportingbracket with one end taporing from the longitudinal center line of thebracket toward the sides thereof, a barre] mounted on the bracket andshorter than In testimony, that I claim the foregoing the width of thefacing board between the as my own, 1 have hereto a'lhxed my signa- 1i,rabbots, and a piston of substantially the ture in the presenre of twoWitnesses.

length of the barrel, the diameter of the bar- J \MES EDWIN GIBBS reland piston being proportioned to the length of the barrel to provide alarge air Witnesses:

chamber to compensate for the restricted EARL HOFFMAN, stroke of thepiston. CHAS. A. NAUGHTON.

